Day 4 Fridday June 20, 2014 Train to Chartres Cathedral, Paris

Today we took the train to Chartres, a small city an hour south of Paris.  This small town has a "big city" cathedral, one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in the world.  It is in this cathedral that a particularly fine design for a labyrinth was originated.  We wanted to see the town, the cathedral, and walk its labyrinth.

Here is more about the Chartres: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/chartres-cathedral.

On a sunny morning we crossed Paris to one of its six train stations to catch our train to Chartres.  We navigated the subway system and then ticketing and finding our train at the Gard Montpasse.  The transportation portion of the travels has been made more challenging due to a transportation strike in France.  Our Metro Station was closed…confusion reigned as we tried to find our way.  Luckily, there are very helpful workers in Red vest to answer questions.  We found seats on the train just minutes before its departure.  The hour ride out of the city and across the rolling farm land to Chartres was delightful.

Once at Chartres, we found there were other passengers heading for the cathedral as we followed our maps, nearly in unison, the easy walk to the church.  We could see the spires from the station so it was simply to zero in on the cathedral. 

The church is magnificent. It is so large!  Fortunately it survived battles fought around it several times, including WWII. Most of the stain glass windows are original back to the 12th century.  They are stunning in their beauty, filling the church with multicolored light.  There are two huge rose windows on either side of the church.

We were pleased to have the chance to actually see the labyrinth in the Cathedral (during most of the time, the church covers up the labyrinth with folding chairs, but on Fridays between Easter and October, they put them aside on Fridays.)  So we arrived and thought we had the chance to walk this ancient labyrinth. As it turns out, there is a huge restoration project going on, so we could only stand at the very edge of it.  Patti walked just the first few feet of the path.

Luckily, there was another outdoors labyrinth, of a different design, that Patti was able to walk, so this was not such a huge disappointment. We have both walked labyrinths in many places, but seeing this was exquisite. Perhaps another time. 

At noon we had the special treat of being able to attend a tour of the cathedral by Sir Malcom Miller, age 80.  Here is some information about him:

“Malcolm MILLER has been guiding at Chartres Cathedral since 1958, and claims that he is still learning about it !

He has written several books, made TV documentaries, and lectured widely in the USA, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Sweden at some of the most prestigious universities : Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Uppsala, Princeton, UCLA. Museums - The National Gallery and Smithsonian in Washington, the Chicago Art Institute (17 times). And churches, The National Cathedral Washington, St. John the Divine, NYC and St. Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide and many more.

To thank Mr. Miller for his work at Chartres, he has received from the French Government two of its highest civilian honours : Knight of the National Order of Merit and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.”

We could hardly wrap our brain around how old this place was.  The “new” cathedral was built in 1024.  Imagine!  We saw and heard so many interesting stories and facts about the building and community there.  This place (now kind of out in the boondocks, about 50 miles southwest of Paris) was one of the highest and most famous centers of learning in all of Europe.  Just being there and feeling the feet of so many pilgrimages who had traveled there before us was inspiring.

Lunch in the early afternoon was at a delightful little family own bistro, Le Pichet.  Patti passed on the rabbit with prunes, but we both had some tasty “home cooked” style food. Yummy and delicious, made all the better by the fact that we were the only two guests in the place and got lots of great attention from the husband and wife who owned the place.  And the crème brulè was mouthwatering.  Here is a review: “Around the corner from Chartres Cathedral is a little restaurant named Le Pichet on a quiet little street . We stopped here for lunch and the food was amazing! I ordered the chicken stew (Cassoulet de Poulet) and a pear tart - the chicken was very tender and tasty with a mouth-watering combination of herbs. One of my friends ordered the vegetable soup which she really loved. The owners of Le Pichet are delightful - very charming and helpful. Fabulous service!  I highly recommend this restaurant if you go to Chartres. “

Evening took us back into Paris, where we met up with our friends, Sandra and Ramon who have now arrived.  It was good to see friends from home, as well as other colleague from around the world who come together for this business conference.  Dinner was a delightful time out in the neighborhood, just a block away form our apartments at Les Philosophes restaurant.  We had great salads, real French Onion Soup, and a wonderful bottle of red wine.  We celebrated what joy it was to be in Paris with such good friends. Here is a review off of Trip Advisor: “I am a true Parisian, know a lot about good and bad restaurants in Paris. I feel always so sorry when tourists (especially the American ones....) have bad experiences. So please do me a favor and go to Les Philosophes; The chef is an advocate of locally produced food, traditional recipes and honesty in the kitchen. If you came too late for lunch perhaps the dish of the day is not available anymore and that is a good sign; The bread is good, the butter is good, the cooking is what you can expect from an excellent French bistro.”

The back at the apartment where they guys watched some of the French match in the soccer World Cup,  Final score was Franc 5, Switzerland 1.  We know that everyone round here is going to be stoked tomorrow for their team.

In the meantime, Patti and Saundra tried their best to wash a load of laundry.  Sound nice and easy, eh?  It turns out not being able to read the dials to know which button you are pushing can have fairly hilarious results.  They laughed until they were nearly sick, and finally got the drier to give up the load.  Go literacy…..it is sure nice to know what one needs to do in order to work things out.

Finally off to bed, with Dick and Ramon and Marybeth needing to get up early, early for Saturday’s conference day of presentations.  Another wonderful day in paradise.

A labyrinth is a symbolic journey . . . but it is a map we can really walk on, blurring the difference between map and world.”
― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking